Pope Benedict XVI sought to assuage the grief of Italy's earthquake victims during his Easter blessing on Sunday, as Christians across the world celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Tens of thousands of pilgrims filled St Peter's Square as the Pope issued an appeal for peace in Africa - fresh from a controversial first tour as pontiff - and the Middle East, ahead of a trip to Israel and Jordan next month.

Open air masses were held in the Italian town of L'Aquila and surrounding villages struck by last week's earthquake.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was in L'Aquila to attend Easter mass, but many of the thousands sheltered in tent camps stayed away from various services being held there.

Simple altars were set up for the Easter services, as churches damaged in the quake were deemed unsafe.

Using a white plastic table as a makeshift altar the homeless people of the largest camp in L'Aquila celebrated Easter Sunday.

Around 300 people attended the mass in a giant tent which is normally used as a dining room.

Services have take place in many of the 67 tent cities which accommodate around 25-thousand people.

During the ceremony a brick from l'Aquila, along with items used by the emergency crews, including a megaphone and a wheel chair were blessed by the priest.

Only a few dozen attended an Easter mass celebrated by local Archbishop Giuseppe Molinari at a camp set up at an athletics track north of l'Aquila.

"My words are weak," he said in his homily.

"I was afraid, I suffered like you. We're here to conquer that fear," he said.

Elsewhere, pilgrims flocked to the spot where Jesus is believed to have been resurrected in Jerusalem after his crucifixion on Good Friday, while Christians celebrated Easter in war-torn countries such as Iraq.

However, priests and activists maintained that 60 years of government repression of those loyal to the Pope shows no sign of easing in China, where an "underground" church remains illegal.

Under an overcast Vatican sky, Benedict delivered a message to the survivors of the earthquake that killed nearly 300 people in the Abruzzo region last week as he addressed Easter greetings to Catholics around the world in 63 languages.

"Happy Easter to you, men and women of Italy, in particular those who suffer because of the earthquake. May the risen Christ... inspire in all the necessary wisdom and courage to proceed united in the building of a future open to hope," he said in Italian.

The pontiff also said reconciliation among rival factions in the Middle East was "difficult, but indispensable" while appealing for peace in Africa

"Reconciliation... is a precondition for a future of overall security and peaceful coexistence, and it can only be achieved through renewed, persevering and sincere efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," he said.

"Africa suffers disproportionately from the cruel and unending conflicts, often forgotten, that are causing so much bloodshed and destruction in several of her nations," he added.

Jerusalem

Christian pilgrims from across the globe filled every nook of the cavernous Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, considered by most Christians as their holiest site.

"I am the happiest person in the world right now," said Freida, a 63-year-old history teacher from Germany. "I have dreamt about this for 40 years."

The smell of incense and the hum of prayers filled the air as the pilgrims glimpsed Christianity's most revered sites - the place where Jesus was crucified by the Romans, the slab of stone where his body was laid afterwards and embraced by his mother - and the tomb where he was buried and resurrected.

In Baghdad, hundreds of Iraqi Christians marked Easter in a country where thousands of the religion's followers have fled the majority Muslim nation since the 2003 US-led invasion.

"Jesus taught us forgiveness and this is the philosophy of the Christian religion - to forget those who wronged us. The situation in Iraq has improved and that is a cause for optimism," said Father Boutros Hadad of the Church of Mary the Virgin in Baghdad's Karrada district.

According to Christian leaders, 250,000 of the 800,000 Christians who lived in Iraq before the invasion six years ago that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, have now left the country. Christians make up three per cent of the population.

China has millions of Catholics who either attend mass at official churches overseen by the communist government, or who are part of illegal, "underground" congregations.

Loyal to the Pope, the latter run the risk of being questioned, beaten and even imprisoned, according to critics.

"The situation is going from bad to worse," said Joseph Kung of the Cardinal Kung Foundation, a US-based Catholic activist group.

In a case raised by the Vatican, underground bishop Jia Zhiguo has been in detention since March 30 in the northern province of Hebei.

A Swedish church meanwhile unveiled a life-sized statue of Jesus made up of nearly 30,000 Lego bricks donated by churchgoers, pastor Per Wilder of the oensta Gryta Church in Vaesteras, about 110 kilometres (70 miles) west of Stockholm, told AFP.

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